Spring bulbs
Good Morning,
I was once asked what is an enlightened mind? I compare it to insight, insight that comes from deep, honest self reflection and a healthy understand of thing as they truly are. Like spring bulbs dormant underneath the frozen earth, the qualities of the enlightened mind need time and the proper conditions to grow. Insights can have the effect of deepening understanding but the mind of enlightenment doesn't open in an instant.
It is like the days getting warmer and longer at the end of winter. One warm sunny day isn't going to make the flowers bloom, but as more of them occur, we're going to see signs of growth. Just so, as our moments of insight accumulate, they begin to influence our activity; we're able to open not only our minds but our hearts.
To the dull mind all things are leaden. To the enlightened mind the whole world sparkles and burns.
Peace and Love, Jim
posted by The Daily Buddha at 5:26 AM
2 Comments:
Do you think that once you achieve enlightenment that you can fall out of enlightenment? Sort of like excercise, you can workout for months or even years; then one day get sick and just fall out of the loop for several weeks? Or, do you suppose that once our mind is open, it stays open?
Great question! Yes one can lose the benefits of becoming enlightened or we can fall off the path and become sucked back into the illusions of life. They are powerful forces in our lives (illusions) and without mindfullness they can draw us back into their tangled web.
Through daily practice (meditation or shamatha) we stay on the path, we practice staying focused and in the moment. Much like a physical workout for the body, meditation is the workout for the mind, we work with our mind and train it to focus, to be clear so their is room for greater possibilities.
I do feel that without daily practice we can lose sight of the moments and experiences that allow us to have an enlightened mind. I do not think one could ever revert fully back to being in the darkness, the experience of being empty and open, seeing things as they are, is simply to powerful and joyus to not change one permanently.
Take care and thank you for the question.
Peace my friend
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